De Blasio announces $50M plan to restore old pavilion on Orchard Beach in Bronx borough tour

Mayor de Blasio talks about the start of beach season at Orchard Beach in the Bronx. (Jillian Jorgensen)

The city's beaches open for business this weekend — and in a few years, thanks to $50 million, so will an aging pavilion on the shores of Orchard Beach, Mayor de Blasio said Friday.

"The opening day at Orchard Beach has been a very big deal for generations here in the Bronx," said de Blasio, who entered the press conference to the strains of "Jammin'" by Bob Marley & the Wailers. "But we also know that this beach, for too many years, did not get the support it deserved, did not get the help it deserved."

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De Blasio was looking at a hulking and handsome beach pavilion, built in the late 1930s under the tenure of Robert Moses — when it housed an orchestra that played dance music in addition to concessions and other services for bathers.

But the pavilion closed in 2007 as it deteriorated, and de Blasio said a visit to the beach with Police Commissioner James O'Neill last year made him realize how missed it was.

This pavilion, built in the 1930s, will be revamped with $50 million in state and city funds. (Jillian Jorgensen)

"For a lot of families who don't have a lot of money, this is the summer vacation right here," de Blasio said. "And they deserve the finer things in life, too, don't they?"

The pavilion will be patched up with $20 million in city funds, $10 million from Gov. Cuomo, $10 million from Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and $10 million from Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who recalled learning to drive in the parking lots at Orchard Beach.

The visit marks the end of de Blasio's "City Hall in Your Borough" jaunt to the Bronx, but it also marks the unofficial beginning summer. Starting on Saturday, lifeguards will be on duty at city beaches from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year, beachgoers who forgot sunscreen are in luck — a city pilot program will provide sunscreen dispensers stocked with free SPF 30 lotion.

De Blasio said a lot of families deserve a convenient and affordable summer vacation spot at the old pavilion. (Michael Appleton/Michael Appleton)

City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver warned parents not to take their eyes off children near the water, and thanked the city's orange-clad lifeguards for their work.

"I want to call out our heroes and sheroes," he said. "For the last three years we have not had one drowning when lifeguards are on duty."